North Korea Conducts Successful nuclear test

[Wahid]

North Korea claims nuclear test
South Koreans watch television in the wake of North Korea's reported nuclear test
There was concern among South Koreans at the news
North Korea says it has carried out its first test of a nuclear weapon, the state news agency (KCNA) has reported.

It said the underground test, carried out in defiance of international warnings, was a success and had not resulted in any leak of radiation.

The White House said South Korean and US intelligence had detected a seismic event at a suspected test site.

The White House said, if confirmed, the test would be a "provocative act", while China denounced it as "brazen".

In its strongest statement ever against its ally, China expressed its "resolute opposition" to the claimed test and said it "defied the universal opposition of international society".

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was "unpardonable".


We expect the UN Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act


South Korea said it would "sternly respond".

President Roh Moo-hyun has called an emergency meeting of South Korea's National Security Council and put the armed forces on a heightened state of alert.

Seoul also suspended a scheduled aid shipment to North Korea, the state news agency reported.

US White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "We expect the UN Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act."

'Historic event'

The US Geological Survey said it had detected a 4.2 magnitude quake in North Korea, while a South Korean official said a 3.5 magnitude seismic tremor had been detected in north Hamgyong province, in the north-east.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting that the test took place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT).

A top Russian military officer said it was "100%" certain that an underground nuclear explosion had taken place.

When it announced the test, KCNA described it as an "historic event that brought happiness to our military and people".

"The nuclear test will contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and surrounding region," KCNA said.

The region has been on high alert since North Korea announced last week that it would conduct a nuclear test.

Shinzo Abe is in Seoul for a meeting with Mr Roh, a day after talks in Beijing.

Mr Abe said Japan wanted to co-ordinate its response with the South Koreans, and was also in contact with the US and China.

In Tokyo, ministers were called to an urgent meeting, and the government set up a special task force.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6032525.stm

 

[AvarAllahNoor]

Well no oil in NK so no need for USA,UK to take in troops at all!

 

[therebbe]

Well no oil in NK so no need for USA,UK to take in troops at all!

It is a threat to USA interests in Asia though, especially to strategic Allies the USA needs in South Korea, and Japan for retaliatory strike capability against China.

 

[Woodrow]

At best it is fool hardy. Korea has a very fragile ecosystem and the water shed provides drinking water for nearly all of Korea and a lot of Southern China. I would suspect that an awful lot of water has now been contaminated.

The mountain ranges in the northern and eastern parts of North Korea form the watershed for most of its rivers, which run in a westerly direction and empty into the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay. The longest is the Yalu River, which is navigable for 678 of its 790 kilometers. The Tumen River, one of the few major rivers to flow into the Sea of Japan, is the second longest at 521 kilometers but is navigable for only 85 kilometers because of the mountainous

Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/geography-of-north-korea

It is very irresponsible and thoughtless for a country to subject it's peoples to the liklihood of Nuclear contamination. Korea has a very fragile environment and this could very likly poison many of it's residents.

 

[Salmaan]

Is this the first time ever that a nuclear test has been conducted by any country :?

 

[Keltoi]

One thing that could come from this is Japan building up militarily. I can see a change in the constitution in the face of this threat to Japanese security. Very stupid move, and will cause a shift in the dynamics of the region.

 

[boomarang]

One thing that could come from this is Japan building up militarily. I can see a change in the constitution in the face of this threat to Japanese security. Very stupid move, and will cause a shift in the dynamics of the region.

Posted on Wed, Oct. 04, 2006

North Korea announces plan for a nuclear test

Such a move would have dramatic implications. Rice said it would be "a very provocative act."

By Anthony Faiola and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post

TOKYO - North Korea declared yesterday that it would conduct a nuclear test to bolster its defenses against the United States, raising tensions in the region and marking the communist government's first unambiguous pledge to prove it has become a nuclear power.

Although North Korea has previously said it possesses nuclear bombs - U.S. intelligence officials have estimated it could have as many as 11 - a test detonation would dramatically change the region's power dynamics. Analysts have said the United States and area neighbors including China, Japan and South Korea would be forced to deal far more harshly with the North.

A test would be a "very provocative act," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a visit to Cairo, Egypt. It would create a "qualitatively different situation on the Korean peninsula" that would spill over into the entire region, she said. Rice declined to predict what the U.S. response might be.

In a statement issued through the official KCNA news service, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the government would "conduct a nuclear test under conditions where safety is firmly guaranteed." The statement did not say when the test might occur but asserted that the North's "nuclear weapons will serve as reliable war deterrent for protecting the supreme interests of the state and the security of the Korean nation from the U.S. threat of aggression."

The declaration follows news reports in recent months, based on intelligence agency findings, that the secretive communist state might be preparing a test site in its barren northeast. Observers greeted the reports with some skepticism, partly because North Korea is widely known for brinkmanship.

High-level officials from the United States, Japan, South Korea and China immediately began exchanging calls yesterday to discuss a response, according to Asian diplomatic sources. These countries have been part of six-party talks attempting to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear program.

The reaction was particularly sharp in Japan, which sees itself as a primary target of North Korean aggression. "If they conduct a nuclear test, it will not be forgiven," Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, told reporters last night. "The international community will deal with the situation firmly."

Several analysts and diplomats said a test would in effect mean that North Korea's absolute ruler, Kim Jong Il, had played his last card in the standoff over the country's nuclear program. Observers suggested that the threat might be an attempt to force an easing of the economic pressure against the North, which has risen dramatically in recent months.

"North Korea's final goal is survival, and a test is their final option," said Ahn Yinhay, professor of international relations at Korea University in Seoul. "Given the current situation - the enormous pressure from the U.S.'s hard-line policy - the North Koreans may think they have no other means to try to get out of this deadlock. They may think they have nothing else to lose."

Many observers say there would be a great deal to lose. A nuclear test would make it far more difficult for the North's chief benefactors - China and South Korea - to continue to provide billions of dollars worth of economic aid and trade, money that has helped Kim prop up his government.

A major concern among U.S. officials is the potential reaction by Japan. U.S. nuclear analysts have worried for years that a North Korean nuclear test might lead Japan to break with decades of nonproliferation commitments and speed toward its own weapons capability. Japan's nuclear industry is highly advanced, giving the country the ability to make nuclear weapons within months if it chose to do so.

Associated Press


The Japanese can become 'highly motivated'. I wouldn't P@#$ them off, if I were the DNPK.

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

One thing that could come from this is Japan building up militarily. I can see a change in the constitution in the face of this threat to Japanese security. Very stupid move, and will cause a shift in the dynamics of the region.

i think deep down Japanese elites still hold a grudge against US for Hiroshima and Nagasaki

a military buildup of Japan would be very dangerous as we have seen in the past especially if it allies with China

but Japan and US have a booming trade so it's not likely to happen

 

[Woodrow]

Is this the first time ever that a nuclear test has been conducted by any country :?

No, the US started with testing in the 1940's. By the 1950's it was noted that the testing was too hazardous to be done on US soil so we started doing most of our testing in the Pacific. With disasterous results. The world is still suffering from the fall-out and will continue to do so for many generations to come.

By the 1960's it was decide that above ground testing was too hazardous so it was change to underground tests. That still has not eliminated the dangers. Many water systems have been destroyed from the tests. Nuclear weapons are still in their infancy and nobody really knows how long a bomb is good for (Shelf Life) it is known that they will deteriate rapidly and become useless. The problem is nobody knows for certain how long different versions can last. This is one reason for the constant need for testing. Both the US and Russia still have many thousands stodkpiles. The problem is nobody knows how many, if any will still detonate and if they do detonat what will they do. There is also a question if some designs may self detonat after a certain time.

They really are stupid weapons and are just as dangerous to the countries that have any as they are to a potential target. I would say that a country possessing any, is more at risk from a severe accident than of ever having any need to use them.

My big worry with N. Korea is how much damage they have done to the water supply for a large portion of NE Asia with their stupid egotistical test. They must not have any concern for their own people or for their neighbors to have gone ahead with the test in such a fragile ecological zone. Yes, we in the US were guilty of the same thing when we were conducting tests in New Mexico and Arizona. It did not show much consideration for our own people or the residents of Canada and Mexico. Our tests in the Pacific showed no concern about the world.

It is a moot point today to try to calculate the number of annual cancer deaths that occur because of tests by the US and Russia. Each future test compounds the damage already done.

 

[doodlebug]

I don't think that we can say for sure it was indeed a nuclear test. I was listening to BBC this morning and we are still doing tests to confirm if it was just a big blast (by doing the size of the quakes and such) or a nuclear test. I think the final determining factor will be the nuclear residue in the air which they were supposed to test today. My bet is that they're bluffing and that it's just a big explosion, but not a nuclear one. I mean look at their ballistic missile testing failure just a couple of months ago.

 

[Woodrow]

I don't think that we can say for sure it was indeed a nuclear test. I was listening to BBC this morning and we are still doing tests to confirm if it was just a big blast (by doing the size of the quakes and such) or a nuclear test. I think the final determining factor will be the nuclear residue in the air which they were supposed to test today. My bet is that they're bluffing and that it's just a big explosion, but not a nuclear one. I mean look at their ballistic missile testing failure just a couple of months ago.

Good possibility. The 4.5 siesmic activity is not impressive. If I recall the 2 smallest ones ever made and dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki rated at near 5 if memory serves me right and with todays nukes they use the Hiroshima class nukes as detonators for the big ones.

Come to think of it 4.5 is about the equivilent of what you would expect from normal dynamite blasting in a coal mine.

 

[Keltoi]

i think deep down Japanese elites still hold a grudge against US for Hiroshima and Nagasaki

a military buildup of Japan would be very dangerous as we have seen in the past especially if it allies with China

but Japan and US have a booming trade so it's not likely to happen

Japan and China will never be allies in our lifetimes and probably not after.

 

[AHMED_GUREY]

^lol true but you never know

i don't think anyone in 1776 would have predicted that the UK and US would be the type partners they are today

so they might not be in our lifetime but don't count this potential team up of Japan and China out in the future

 

[badrulhisyam]

by hook or by crook, to be a powerful and respected nation,n.korea set a good example to all islamic country. patient,preseverance, determination courage and wits are the ingredient that we should have.
Muslimalloverthe world must prepare themselves so that others willnot look down on us. For a start,lets focus on education cause it is the key to success.insyaallah.

 

[Joe98]

For a start,lets focus on education cause it is the key to success.

North Koreans don't have education. The cost of the nuclear program means they cannot afford it.

 

[Keltoi]

North Koreans don't have education. The cost of the nuclear program means they cannot afford it.

They can't afford to eat much less get an education.

 

[Woodrow]

by hook or by crook, to be a powerful and respected nation,n.korea set a good example to all islamic country. patient,preseverance, determination courage and wits are the ingredient that we should have.
Muslimalloverthe world must prepare themselves so that others willnot look down on us. For a start,lets focus on education cause it is the key to success.insyaallah.

Keep in mind North Korea is not Muslim. It is a communist regime and the official religion is Atheism.

Korea's traditional religions are Buddhism and Shamanism. Christian missionaries arrived as early as the 16th century, but it was not until the 19th century that they founded schools, hospitals, and other modern institutions throughout Korea. Major centers of 19th-century missionary activity included Seoul and Pyongyang, and there was a relatively large Christian population in the north before 1945. Although religious groups exist in North Korea, most available evidence suggests that the government severely restricts religious activity.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_North_Korea


Additional Source:

http://www.answers.com/topic/demographics-of-north-korea

 

[Keltoi]

by hook or by crook, to be a powerful and respected nation,n.korea set a good example to all islamic country. patient,preseverance, determination courage and wits are the ingredient that we should have.
Muslimalloverthe world must prepare themselves so that others willnot look down on us. For a start,lets focus on education cause it is the key to success.insyaallah.

Hopefully no Islamic country would follow North Korea's example. The people are starving. Building up your military at the price of your own people's well being isn't an example for any nation to follow, much less one based on the word of God.

 

[akulion]

its funny the west puts sanctions on a country

then when its poeple start to starve it says "look its the govts doing"

perfect example?

Iraq oil for food program

 

[Keltoi]

its funny the west puts sanctions on a country

then when its poeple start to starve it says "look its the govts doing"

perfect example?

Iraq oil for food program

The United States and China have been giving North Korea economic aid for quite some time. There are currently no sanctions against North Korea, so with all due respect you're barking up the wrong tree.